William ballabd



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BALLARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROTECTING-BULWARK FOR WAR VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,174, dated November 1, 1853.

T 0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, VILLIAM BALLARD, of thecity, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement for the Protection of Rifle-Batteries for Men of Var; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full description of the same.

The nature of my invention consists in attaching, by means of hinges, aseries of shield boards to the inside of the rail of the .bulwarks, soas to be raised up in time of naval engagement as a protection to therifle-men; and also in arranging a series of stanchions, and rails,along the line of the deck parallel with the bulwarks, and four to siXfeet from them, for the support of the inner ends of the shield boardswhen raised up, the spaces between the stanchions being cased or paneledup by sliding panels, which may be taken down when not required for anengagement. But to describe my invention more particularly I will referto the accompanying drawings forming a part of this schedule, the samelet-ters of reference whenever they occur referring to the same parts.

Figure 1, is a side elevation of a man of war, showing the rifle ports,and la portion of the covering for the rifle battery. Fig. 2, is a.section of the hulk, through the line m, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detachedView of the shield board, as attached to the bulwark and deck. Fig. 4L,is a` plan View of the deck of the hulk, divided at midships. Fig. 5, isa detached View of a part of the bulwark showing the post, and the deckshowing the guide Way, for the panels.

Letter A, represents the hulk of a naval vessel having one tier of heavyguns, and a series of rifle ports B, B, &c., pierced through thebulwarks.

Letters C, C, &c., are a series of drop shield boards. These shieldboards, are attached to the rail D, of the bulwarks, by a hinge, so thatthey may drop down close against the inside of the bulwarks to be out ofthe way when not used in an engagement.

Letters E, E, Smc., are a series of ports or stanchions. Thesestanchions are intended to be placed on the deck F, of the vessel, atabout four feet more or less from the bulwarks. Upon the upper end ofthese ports is secured a rail G, so as to hold the ports together in aline parallel with the rail of the bulwarks, so that the inner edges ofthe shield boards may rest upon it, thereby protecting the rifle batteryof sharp shooters fromthe tire of the sharp shooters in the enemys tops.

Letter H, is a sliding panel to form a back to the rifle battery box.These panels are made to slide in ways J, J, attached to the deck, andagainst the stanchions, so that the riflemen are completely protectedfrom the small shot of an enemys ship during 4an engagement. Thestanchions and back boards or panel pieces to the rifle battery box, areall made so as to be shifted, and as the shield board is hinged to thebulwark rail, so that it may be dropped down, the whole arrangement willbe out of the way when the ship is not in action. These parts, and theprecise mode of arranging the parts may be varied, but so long as theprinciple is preserved I consider it my invention.

Having now described my invent-ion I will proceed to state what I claimand desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States.

What I claim therefore -is 1. The use of the shield board C, incombination with the bulwarks of a ship substantially as set forth.

2. I also claim the use of the stanchions E, rail G, and panels H, incombination with the deck of the vessel, and the shield board C, for thepurposes and principle of construction and operation substantially asset forth.

WILLIAM BALLARD.

Vit-nesses ELIJAH PRATT, CHARLES L. BARRETT.

